The Entwives of the Shire
by Renegade3
Summary: Holfast, the grandson of Samwise Gamgee, becomes intrigued by the tales of the Ents and sets out on a journey to find the lost Entwives...but many delays and twists lie in his road...


Disclaimer: All characters of or related to Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, or The Silmarillion are copyright of J. R. R. Tolkien. Except for Mornar...he is my creation.  
  
The Entwives of the Shire  
  
Chapter 1: Of Plans Delayed and Shining Guards  
  
Merry Brandybuck and Pippin Took wandered along the creek bed, their feet sinking slightly into the soft mud. "I s'pose if we follow the creek we'll find our way out of this dreary forest and away from those orcs," Merry said. Pippin nodded in reply as they plodded their way through Fangorn, an ancient forest not far south of Lorien...  
  
"Now whiles they were traipsing about in the forest, me an' Mr. Frodo were crossing those terrible marshes with that wretch Gollum. An' let me tell you, you definitely don't want to meet up with that character!" Samwise Gamgee exclaimed with disgust at the remembrance of the creature, which nearly cost him his life, as well as Frodo's. Sam was getting on in age, this month would be his 105th birthday, and he had decided to pass the tale of the Fellowship's journey on to his grandson, Holfast, who was now seated at his feet with several of his friends. It was just after luncheon and the young hobbits had come over after they had eaten, then staying until afternoon tea, which was the time they were expected home. "I've only seen the Ents once at Isengard," Sam recounted some time later in the tale, "and I must say they are the strangest creatures I've ever seen. Like trees they are, but almost human at the same time...there's a sort of ancient power hidden behind the veil of wisdom they seem to bear."  
"Oh stop with your nonsense, dear!" his wife, Rose Cotton, chastised.  
"It's not nonsense!" he replied annoyedly. However, seeing as hobbits weren't prone to like or understand any complex or poetic sayings, for they were naturally inclined to scorn any hobbit who made a habit of saying such queer things.  
Samwise then launched into the legend of the Entwives. "Long ago, when the Ent were the only beings, save the Elves, to live of Middle-Earth, they had beautiful Entwives and together they populates the whole of Middle Earth. But one day, the Entwives mysteriously disappeared entirely and the Ents retreated to the deep forests after they had given up the search. The Entwives' songs were lost to the wind and time. But then, many years later, Merry and Pippin came to meet one aged Ent named Treebeard, and after telling him about the Shire, he wondered if they might have disappeared in our land." The young hobbits looked up at him in curiosity, Holfast in particular had a bright spark of an idea in his eyes. However, the other children let the story simply wash over their heads and avoid all possibilities of being remembered.  
  
The clock tolled four o'clock (by Shire reckoning) and the children were ushered out the door. As they scampered down the lane, Holfast alone chattered on and on about the tale and how fantastic it would be if they were to discover the Entwives. He had always been very adventurous for a hobbit...most unnatural, but the others accepted him because he had never actually followed through with any of his ideas. "Wouldn't it be fun!" he said, "Going on adventures like Strider or Frodo?!"  
"Don't be foolish Holfast! Leaving all the comforts of home, our six meals-a-day, even leaving our beloved Shire just to look for Tree People?!" shouted one in disgust.  
"Are you trying to bring even more disrespect to your family name?" inquired another.  
"No, of course not! I just thought it would be fun to see places other than the Shire," Holfast replied sheepishly. 'Tonight,' thought he, 'that's when I'll begin my journey.'  
  
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The air was quiet and a gentle breeze blew across the hills as crickets and other creatures of the night voiced their sounds. A frog on a nearby tree leapt into the Bywater Pool, little ripples then issuing from the miniature dive. The frog was suddenly thumped on the head by a stone thrown from a figure seated on the bank. Holfast reached down and picked up another stone, skipping it across the water until it sank again. "What am I to do?" he asked himself in frustration, "I know nothing of traveling, let alone adventures!" He had just come from his hole when he realized that he had yet to pack anything properly, save food.  
Sitting for a while and pondering what he should do, Holfast finally leapt to his feet and started off down the road. He came to a hole under the Hill...Bag End. Holfast chuckled to himself as he remembered the name Frodo had taken while in disguise, "Underhill...oh what a confusion that caused among the hobbits of Bree." He proceeded to pound on the round, green door, forsaking entirely the knocker Samwise had placed there years before. It slowly creaked open to reveal a rather flustered and groggy Rose, but before she had any say about his presence, he dashed inside. Holfast fell to the ground with a thump when his grandmother gripped the back of his shirt and shook her finger at him.   
"What do you think you're doing here at this hour of the night?!" she demanded in a strained whisper. Holfast stood up and caught his breath for a moment.  
"Could you wake Sam?," he asked, ignoring her question.  
"What ever for?!" she whispered louder, nearly shouting.  
"I needed his help with...um...my...my garden!"  
"I believe you can wait for morning! Now let us be! I would very much like to go back to sleep," she said, pushing him out the door.  
"But--!"  
"Shoo!"  
"But--!"  
"Off. To. Bed!"  
"What's all this commotion?" Sam asked, stubbing his toe on a piece of furniture and grumbling in pain. Holfast gazed down the hall, it was neatly furnished and had many halls leading off to rooms; the nicest ones were on the left. For years it had remained that way, even since Bilbo's time. He supposed Sam kept it that way in remembrance of Frodo and Bilbo.   
'What a strange way to remember someone,' he thought. But he was brought back to the present at the sound of his grandfather's voice.  
"So, what is it you want?"  
"I need a bit of a favor...I was thinking about the story of the Entwives today and I wanted to," Holfast swallowed nervously as Rose's eyes cut into him like spears, "see if I could find them." He hoped that Sam would understand, 'After all, going on all of those adventures across Middle-Earth certainly must have done some sort of good!.' Of course Samwise understood; much more than Holfast could have ever guessed.  
"No! Absolutely not," he replied, a bitter memory of orcs, the Nazgul, and Shelob coming to mind.  
"But why? I'm only going to travel through the Shire...m-maybe as far as Rivendell."  
"And that's all the more reason for you not to go! You have no idea of what danger could be out there!"  
"But when the Ring was destroyed all the evil was supposed to go away!" he whined. "Pleeeeaaase help me...I really want to see if the Entwives still exist." Sam crossed his arms in annoyance.  
"And what if you don't find them? What if you get lost and are attacked?"  
"I'll just come back and I'll...carry a map!"  
"And how are you going to tell the Ents that you've found them?"  
Holfast shuffled his feet, "Well, I could just tell the Entwives where the Ents are..." Sam looked at him, scrutinizing whether or not he should really let him go. After a moment, he finally decided.  
"All right, you may go. But you will not go alone." Holfast jumped up and down in excitement and joy, until he added, "Don't you go expectin' to leave anytime soon. I have some things that I must see to before I'm letting you even set foot outside of Hobbiton!" The little hobbit hung his head disappointedly and nodded.  
  
Holfast soon found himself pacing outside of Bag End for the following week. His friends came by and tried to change his mind, but the hobbit would have nothing of the sort. The other residents laughed and jeered at him for being so strange. Murmuring things like:  
"He's cracked he has, jus' like that Bilbo."  
"What a shameful thing for a boy his age to do! Tramping off to the Outside?!"  
"I hear that Samwise has been spinnin' tales in 'is head he has. Makin' kids believe there's such things as Fents or whatever he calls 'em."  
But Holfast did not care, adventure was all he cared for.  
  
*****************************************************  
  
Finally, one autumn day, when the sky was a bright, limitless blue, Samwise was found sitting outside his door smoking his pipe with an anxious look etched onto his face. He looked as if he were waiting for someone. Just as Holfast was about to ask what, or who, his grandfather was awaiting, the soft clip-clop of horse hooves came from the earthen path leading up to the Hill. The boy leapt behind some bushes, which happened to be very prickly and filled with vines, as a figure clad in black and silver rode to the door. His mail and armor glittered in the sun as did the helm upon his head. A kingly figure indeed! The man conversed with Sam shortly before dismounting his horse and removing his helm, which had two wings on either side, and bowing slightly to Sam. Holfast gazed at the horse beside the man; it was a rich shade of chestnut with black socks up to its knees and a helm upon its head similar to the human's.  
The little hobbit winced as the sharp leaves prodded his skin; when he could stand it no longer, he tumbled out of the bushes and landed at the man's feet. The man glanced down at him in confusion and surprise. "Do all of your people appear so suddenly out of the bushes?" he asked, smiling down at the child.  
Samwise laughed and replied, "No, no! This is only my grandson, Holfast. It seems he is far too curious for his own good." The boy grinned at the man sheepishly as he got to his feet, bowing low to him and reciting the formalities (though he never thought them necessary).  
"Mornar, son of Bergil of Minas Tirith at your service," the man said, politely and bowing slightly.  
"You're in Strider -- I mean Lord Elessar's service?!" Holfast exclaimed, gasping in awe. It was then he noticed the White Tree of Gondor and the seven stars that were embedded, shining, in the breastplate of him armor.  
"That I am," Mornar replied.  
"Now that you two have become acquainted," said Sam, "I believe it is time that I mentioned Master Mornar's purpose." He turned to Holfast and looked at him sternly in the eye. "That purpose is to be your guide, Holfast. And you are not to stray from his side during your...quest...under any circumstances. You got that?" The hobbit-child nodded, still admiring the Gondorian. Sam was growing impatient, as was his habit now-a-days, "Holfast!"  
"What?"  
"Do you understand me?"  
"Yes, yes of course."  
"Very well, you will depart the morn after tomorrow."  
"What?! Why not tomorrow morning?!" Holfast whined.  
"Because tomorrow isn't Bilbo's birthday. I want you to leave on the same day Frodo did." Samwise's gaze saddened when he thought of his late master's birthday, which was ironically the same as Bilbo's, and journey.  
"Fine," he replied bitterly.  
The grandfather ignored his seven-year-old grandson and continued, "Master Mornar, you may stay in my guest room until then."  
"Thank you. You're generosity is indeed all that Lord Elessar has said it to be." Sam sighed at this. 'Generous indeed. Seems Strider's been stretchin' the truth again.' he thought, his eyes smiling.  
Holfast chose to interrupt this moment of silence and whined, "I'm hungry!" 


End file.
